


Out of My Mind

by Zibomotua



Series: Time [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Hux is kind of emotionally constipated, M/M, but in the cutest way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5643613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zibomotua/pseuds/Zibomotua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of all of the people to be stranded on an unknown planet with, he had to be stuck with the most childish, chaotic Sith wannabe who would cut your head off for just looking at him wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> I had to break this up to reorder the series. Im a mess. whatever.

The landing was brutal, their pod mangled. Hux awoke a small ways away, lying confused in a puddle of mud. He raked his brain for any explanation of his situation. The last thing he remembers is safety restraints giving away, an impact and his body flung across the pod onto the only other inhabitant, Kylo Ren. Hux sat up, surveying his surroundings. He grimaced at the weight of the crusted mud on what was a freshly pressed uniform.

Speaking of the brooding force-wielder, he was nowhere in immediate sight. Hux slowly stood up, noting the soreness in every strand of his body. His military instincts kicked in and he decided to search the pod for a way to contact The Order and report their whereabouts.

“It’s futile. The antenna was taken out and the radio module is cracked.” Came a low rumble from behind. Kylo Ren was standing at the top of a small cliff formed by their escape pod’s entry. Half of his cape was ripped off and he stood slightly stooped from his normal stance.

Hux sighed. He climbed up onto the adjoining ledge and looked out at the foreign landscape. Out of all of the people to be stranded on an unknown planet with, he had to be stuck with the most childish, chaotic Sith wannabe who would cut your head off for just looking at him wrong. It’s not that Hux and Kylo didn’t get along. They had to work together frequently, but their interactions were usually kept only to the assignments at hand. One would always leave as soon as their objective was reached.

“I sense life to the west of our location” Kylo declared once again, pointing to emphasize his point.

Speaking to each other was also something they weren’t very used to. Hux frowned slightly at the idea of letting Kylo take charge of their little adventure. As a general, he wasn’t very good at taking orders from anyone but Snoke himself.

“Lets just find a communicator and get out of here” he huffed, walking in the direction of Kylo’s finger. He didn’t bother to check if Kylo followed. The uneven footsteps told him that Kylo following and most likely injured. Hux knew better than to act on it. If Kylo were indeed hurt to the point of incapacitation, he would stop.

They reached a small farmhouse surrounded by plasma fences where beasts of all species roamed. Hux stopped short of the door and composed himself. He knew this was a gamble. Some planets did not tolerate The Order and were not shy about expressing themselves. In the long run, this was not an issue as one word from his mouth and he could have the whole planet destroyed and made an example of. No, the problem was the short term and first opening a line of communication with their base for extraction.

He knocked. A gruff man, in his twilight years answered the door, tentative at first.

“Hello Sir. May I borrow a communication device?” Hux asked, polite but firm.

The mans eyes searched Hux’s appearance, then Kylo’s. His eyes grew hard and his lips pressed together. He shut the door in their face without answer. Looks like they had not landed on friendly territory. Behind him, Hux hears the telltale sign of the unleashing of Kylo’s lightsaber and he turned sideways allowing access for Kylo to cut the door down. Before that could happen, the door flung back open and an old lady was smiling at them.

“I apologize for my husband, he is not one for company. Please do come in.” she said softly but sternly, without fear. Hux liked her already.

\---

“An extraction team will be here in 20 hours.” Hux informs Kylo, entering the small borrowed room.

There were fresh clothes laid out for both of them and an attached bathroom to freshen up. Hux was itching to rid himself of his heavy muddy clothes. Kylo had already removed his cloak and was inspecting the clothes left for them. Hux turned to face away from him and was inspecting his own pile of clothes. Hux was so intently thinking about a warm shower that he missed the releasing sound of mechanical latches behind him.

“The couple cannot be spared, I will take care of them before the team gets here.” came the deep voice, devoid of its usual mechanical notes. Hux stopped inspecting the pants he was holding up, realizing that over the last few years of service, he had never seen the knight’s face.

“You’re not going to kill me if I turn around and head to the shower, are you?” Hux said, slightly playfully. Though his tone light, the question was indeed serious. He did not know if there were consequences to seeing the young knight’s face. Consequences he would rather avoid.

“Blind you if you look, maybe” came an equally playful tone with a breathy chuckle. Hux didn’t know how to interpret that response so he adverted his eyes to the ground and headed around Kylo to the bathroom.

“I was joking.” Came the monotone response as Hux shut the bathroom door.

The shower was indeed marvelous. Hux allowed himself a whole 5 minutes of fresh water, untreated for the harshness of space, to beat down on his aching frame. Hux was unaware that Kylo was capable of making any sort of joke, let alone show any emotion outside of anger. 'Is madness considered an emotion?' he thought.

Hux grudgingly turned off the shower and toweled off. He settled on allowing himself to keep his eyes up and if he happens to get a glance of Kylo’s face, then he won’t stop himself. But to be safe, he wasn’t going to go looking for it either. He opens the shower door looking for the borrowed clothes before realizing that he left them out in the room. He wraps the warm towel around his waist and opens the bathroom door.

Kylo is sitting with his feet up, eyes closed, on the bed closest to the bathroom. He’s still maskless but now he’s dressed in the borrowed dark burlap pants and loose light cotton shirt. Hux does allow himself to look at his face as he travels past the bed to his own pile of clean clothes. Kylo looks nothing like what he would have expected, he’s human with a pleasant appearance. Hux was expecting someone more disfigured or not of an oxygen breathing species. He grabs the light shirt and pulls it over his torso, trusting the towel to stay up on it’s own for a second. He next reaches for the light burlap pants. Hux looks at them puzzled, he remembered them being darker, like Kylo’s before he showered.

Kylo’s eyes are no longer closed and Hux can see in the corner of his eye that he is staring straight at him, eyes wandering unabashed. He shrugs it off. Maybe Kylo is so used to having the helmet, he’s not adept at having to keep his emotions, or eyes, to himself.

Hux stares at the pants a little longer before coming to the conclusion that Kylo must have switched pants while he was showering. Hux looks up and their eyes meet. He’s about to ask about the pants, but Kylo’s arched eyebrow looks like he’s challenging Hux to do so. Hux, not one to humor Kylo, turns back around and doesn’t say a word. He removes his towel, knowingly giving Kylo a shot of his backside, and pulls on the worn pants. He settles into the second bed, exhausted and in need of rest.

Right as sleep is about to take him, Hux decides he admires Kylo’s soft dark locks the most.

\---

Hux wakes up, checking for any changes to his surroundings. He puts on his now cleaned uniform. It's not as pressed or crisp as he would like but it's less embarrassing than this cotton outfit. He looks over at himself, in clear view of the bathroom mirror. The uniform does not hug his frame just right without the skilled ironing of his assistant.

Kylo sits up behind him in the other bed, shirt skewed from sleeping, pants hung too low. Hux averts his eyes after a brief look and heads towards the door.

“Where are you headed?” Kylo asks, his voice much deeper than his appearance would suggest.

“We still have a few more hours until the fleet arrives. I plan on making those hours worthwhile to the unfortunate couple that has done a gracious job hosting us.” Hux responds, turning to get a better veiw of Kylo's certain state. Oh, if The Order could see him now. Almost makes Hux want to take advantage of-

“Why in the hell would you do that?!" The knight swears, taking Hux by a pleasant surprise.

“Believe it or not, I'm not heartless. Plus, It makes the time fly by faster." Hux says with such assurance. Kylo stares Hux down, looking for any crack in his stature.

“I don't buy it" He says frankly, still not breaking eye contact with Hux. 

Hux stares right back, not one to back down from a challenge. After a few seconds he starts to waiver. If there was anyone who would understand his habits, it would probably be this guy.

“...it gives me a sort of satisfaction to lull them into a false sense of security while knowing I am going to kill them. It's quite invigorating, would you like to join?” 

Kylo's facial expression does not change. for someone who stares too much, he has a surprisingly good poker face.

“I do not let others see my face” he responds, still staring straight into Hux.

“Too bad," Hux starts, looking up to break eye contact, his cheeks betraying him. "It sounds right up your alley. It's not like they will be around to tell anyone about your face anyways"

Hux turns and leaves without looking behind.

He finds the old lady, Lorana, at her dining table with a glass of homemade alcohol in her small, frail hands. He's shocked to find it is getting dark here, the time zone here being far off from his circadian rhythm.

Hux can be very charming when he wants to be. His smile is a well kept secret. He lets her talk all about her kids and farm, and the sometimes violent seasons that can cause the crops to be useless. He shares with her his time at the academy, his father and countless stepmothers. He even shares his first name. Being reminded everytime she uses it, that she must take it with her to her grave shortly. He smiles a little wider when she calls to him if he would like another drink.

"So I loaded the only gun left and I came out of the hut!" Lorana laughs, momentarily unable to continue, "screaming like a madwoman, covered in brightly colored berry juices!" Hux laughs with her, unguarded and a little buzzed.

A creak at the entryway interrupts their story. Kylo stands, mask hanging in his hand by his waist.

"Is there room for another?" he asks in his normal unemotional tone.

"Of course, of course!" Lorana exclaims, tipsy herself. "Brendol, dear. Please scoot over to make room for, uh, I'm sorry what was your name young man?" Kylo raises both eyebrows in Hux's direction, noting the now deepening blush across the general's face, hearing his name for the first time. 

"Brendol?" It almost sounds like a laugh in Kylo's tone.

"I was named after a highly noted general and tactician of The Empire." Hux explains himself as if he needs to defend.

"What about you, dear?" Lorana asks, patting the table in front of the still standing Kylo.

"I do not have a name" He responds, sitting down next to Hux.

"Oh, secrets secrets!" she responds with a large smile and a laugh.

It was quite an odd dynamic. Kylo barely spoke, but Hux was happy to share in this twisted pleasure with the man next to him. Kylo still stared at Hux a considerable amount while he talked. Until Hux would catch him and they would hold gazes before Kylo looked away, at literally anything else. Hux was really starting to find it endearing.

It was almost time, they were both monitoring the clocks intently. Lorana was now on a long rant about her husband, who was a janitor at the local space station.

"I mean what's the point of having the rooms if no one is even allowed to use them!?" she asked, very drunk by now. Hux was starting to really treasure this old lady, even if she could be pushy and annoying in only the way an old drunk bat could be. He just stared off with a smile, allowing the conversation to die.

"There is an old observation room on the ship that was forgotten and never finished. I like to go there a lot on my own." Kylos voice drifted into Hux's ear, sounding softer than usual. Hux looked over to find Kylo looking straight at him. 3 hours of conversation and this is the first time Kylo actually contributed. Hux is amazed and speechless. The way they stare at each other makes him think this snippet of information wasn't for the sake of their sadistic game, this was directly for him.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Hux makes an excuse to bring Lorana's husband a drink out to his workshop. He checks his blaster's silencer on the walk over, ready to take care of business. Hux shoots the man square between the eyes before he could even register what was happening. Still not ready to return, he sits next to the body, sipping the drink. He tries to process this snippet of information and his inability to put into words what is happening between him and the last knight of Ren.

As Hux walks back in silently behind Lorana, he hears something come from her that makes his heart stop.

“If you really feel that strong, honey, you should tell him how you feel!”

Kylo’s lip curls slightly on one side, brown eyes meeting hazel as Hux’s laser discharges. It's the closest to a smile Hux has ever seen from him.

“Thank you for the advice," Kylo says, not breaking eye contact with Hux, "I think I will.”


End file.
